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There’s definitely an autumnal feel to the days now despite the lovely late sunshine that we’ve had this year. I find this subtle change in the seasons is also reflected in the food that I look forward to eating at this time of year. As the evenings shorten a comforting home-made soup can be just the ticket, something that’s satisfying as well as warming. The kitchen garden is just yielding the end of courgettes and while they’re not quite as tender as earlier in the season they are ideal for this recipe.
Inspired from a Moorish range of flavours the ingredients in this soup are at first sight a little intriguing. Courgettes, well yes we all recognise those, but teamed with ground almonds and subtle amounts of warming coriander, cinnamon, chilli and cumin, a little cream and stock and the combination makes for a delicious flavoured soup with a lovely texture.
The use of almonds also helps thicken the soup and is a helpful alternative for those with gluten intolerance and please don’t be put off by their addition to this recipe.
Accompany the soup with a few slices of griddled rustic bread that’s been rubbed with a cut garlic clove and lightly brushed with a little olive oil.
If freezing the soup, omit the cream and add once reheated.
30g butter
30g of ground almonds
1 large white onion
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
½ tsp ground cumin
Scant ¼ tsp of ground cinnamon
½ tsp mild chilli powder or pinch of chilli flakes
700g courgettes
800ml of chicken or vegetable stock
50ml of single cream
Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic. Wipe the courgettes and trim off the tops and bottoms before roughly chopping into small pieces.
Melt the butter over a medium heat and add the onion and garlic.
Reduce the heat and cook covered over a low heat for 8 to 10 mins until soft and translucent.
Add the ground coriander, chilli, cumin and cinnamon and stir well before tipping in the chopped courgettes.
Stir to mix and then re-cover and cook gently for a further 5 mins to start to soften the courgettes.
Pour in the stock and simmer very gently for approximately 15 minutes before adding the ground almonds and cooking for a further 5 mins.
Allow the soup to cool slightly and using a slotted spoon remove a few spoonfuls of courgettes, to set aside for serving.
Using a hand blender or processor puree the soup until smooth, add the cream and stir through. Check for seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste.
Divide into the bowls and add back the reserved courgettes and serve!
For an extra special garnish sprinkle a few toasted almonds in the centre of the bowl with fresh coriander leaves and a little black pepper.
As a variation substitute the spices with a teaspoon of mild curry powder and serve with warmed naan bread.
This is a term to describe softening the onion and so many times when teaching I find confusion reigns between ‘ sweating’ and ‘frying’ and the confusion can lead to quite different results.
To sweat /soften the onions -Melt the butter over a medium heat, add in the onion and you should have a sizzle rather than a fierce spitting. Turn the onion over in the butter until well coated and then place a lid over the pan and reduce the heat to low. In my experience it takes between 5 and 8 mins to achieve the softness that you want, and by this time the onion will look translucent – it won’t be fully cooked but well on the way.
Why is it important to do this?
Onion particularly can be quite indigestible if undercooked and even though in this recipe the vegetables cook in the stock, without the process of ‘sweating’ it can leave a slightly raw background note both in flavour and texture.
All spices benefit from being warmed up at the start of the cooking process, this helps ‘wake them up’ a little and release their flavour, especially dried spices that may linger at the back of your dark cupboard waiting for their annual outing!
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